Wireless transaction medium having combined magnetic stripe and radio frequency communications

ABSTRACT

A wireless financial transaction instrument, such as a card, has a magnetic stripe, a display, and an on-board power supply, such as a battery, and is usable with a dual capture point of sale terminal. Information is received by such a terminal from the card wirelessly, and also from the magnetic stripe, and the data received contactlessly is preferably used to verify that read from the stripe. The display can display the account number on command, or to display a current balance, or amount of credit remaining, or any combination of these items of information.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This invention is a continuation of, claims priority to and the benefitof, U.S. Ser. No. 13/468,211 filed on May 10, 2012, and entitled“WIRELESS TRANSACTION MEDIUM HAVING COMBINED MAGNETIC STRIPE AND RADIOFREQUENCY COMMUNICATIONS.” The '211 invention is a continuation of,claims priority to and the benefit of, U.S. Ser. No. 13/273,144 filed onOct. 13, 2011 and entitled “WIRELESS TRANSACTION MEDIUM HAVING COMBINEDMAGNETIC STRIPE AND RADIO FREQUENCY COMMUNICATIONS.” The '144 inventionis a continuation of, claims priority to and the benefit of, U.S. Pat.No. 8,070,058 issued on Dec. 6, 2011 (aka U.S. Ser. No. 13/031,548 filedon Feb. 21, 2011 and entitled “WIRELESS TRANSACTION MEDIUM HAVINGCOMBINED MAGNETIC STRIPE AND RADIO FREQUENCY COMMUNICATIONS”). The '548invention is a continuation of, claims priority to and the benefit of,U.S. Pat. No. 7,909,247 issued on Mar. 22, 2011 (aka U.S. Ser. No.11/738,823 filed on Apr. 23, 2007 and entitled “WIRELESS TRANSACTIONMEDIUM HAVING COMBINED MAGNETIC STRIPE AND RADIO FREQUENCYCOMMUNICATIONS”). The '823 invention claims benefit of the filing dateof, and incorporates by reference the entire contents of ProvisionalPatent Application No. 60/863,320, filed Oct. 27, 2006. All of which areincorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a point of saledevice/terminal that can read magnetic stripe data and receivecontactless transaction data from a transaction instrument, and morespecifically relates to such a system that utilizes a battery-poweredwireless card or other transaction instrument and provides the user witha visual display. The transaction instrument is preferably a financialtransaction instrument, but is not limited thereto.

Fraud is a growing problem that has always existed at some level. Creditcard providers have worked to reduce fraud by requiring such features aszip code verification and signatures, both of which slow downtransaction speed and convenience.

Like barcode and voice data entry, RFID is a contactless informationacquisition technology. RFID systems are wireless, and are usuallyextremely effective in hostile environments where conventionalacquisition methods fail. RFID has established itself in a wide range ofmarkets, such as, for example, the high-speed reading of railwaycontainers, tracking moving objects such as livestock or automobiles,and retail inventory applications. As such, RFID technology has become aprimary focus in automated data collection, identification and analysissystems worldwide.

Of late, companies are increasingly embodying RFID data acquisitiontechnology in a contactless fob, card or tag for use in completingfinancial transactions. Such a fob or card may have a traditional ornon-traditional form factor and also (if it is a card) has a magneticstripe, which stores account data, for example, in accordance withISO/IEC 7813. A typical RFID card includes a transponder and isordinarily a self-contained device which may be contained on anyportable form factor. In some instances, a battery may be included withthe card to power the transponder. In which case the internal circuitryof the card (including the transponder) may draw its operating powerfrom the battery power source. Alternatively, the card may existindependent of an internal power source. In this instance the internalcircuitry of the card (including the transponder) may gain its operatingpower directly from an RF interrogation signal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,774issued to Schuermann describes a typical transponder RF interrogationsystem which may be found in the prior art. The Schuermann patentdescribes in general the powering technology surrounding conventionaltransponder structures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,328 discusses a method bywhich a conventional transponder may respond to a RF interrogationsignal. Other typical modulation techniques which may be used include,for example, ISO/IEC 14443 and the like.

One of the more visible uses of the RFID technology is found in theintroduction of Exxon/Mobil's Speedpass and Shell's EasyPay products.These products use transponders placed in a fob or tag which enablesautomatic identification of the user when the fob is presented at aPoint of Sale (POS) device. Fob identification data is typically passedto a third party server database, where the identification data isreferenced to a customer (e.g., user) credit or debit account. In anexemplary processing method, the server seeks authorization for thetransaction by passing the transaction and account data to anauthorizing entity. Once authorization is received by the server,clearance is sent to the point of sale device for completion of thetransaction. In this way, the conventional transaction processing methodinvolves an indirect path which causes undue overhead due to the use ofthe third-party server.

Given the foregoing, what is needed is a transaction instrument, such asa financial transaction instrument, having a magnetic stripe and alsohaving the ability to operate in a contactless fashion, and capable ofoperating with a point of sale device/terminal that can read magneticstripe data, or can receive contactless transaction data from afinancial transaction instrument, or both, and having a display, and apower supply adequate to power the various functions of the instrument.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention meets the above-identified needs by providing awireless transaction instrument, such as a financial transaction card,also having a magnetic stripe, having a display, and having an on-boardpower supply, such as a battery, capable of providing the required powerfor the card's various functions. The card preferably complies with theEMV standards for contactless cards, and is usable with a dual capturepoint of sale terminal, like that disclosed in parent A. No. 60/863,320,filed Oct. 27, 2006. In particular, information is received by such aterminal from the card wirelessly, and also from the magnetic stripe,and the data received contactlessly is preferably used to verify thatread from the stripe. As an alternative approach that is also within thebroad scope of the invention, the card has dual capability, and can beused with either a conventional contactless terminal or a conventionalmagnetic-stripe reader.

The display can be used in various ways within the broad scope of theinvention, and can, by way of example, be used to display the accountnumber but only on command, so as to protect the secrecy of the number,or to display a current balance, or amount of credit remaining, or anycombination of these items of information.

The dual capture terminal is preferably able simultaneously to read thedata from the magnetic stripe and contactless chip on a transaction cardto determine the card's legitimacy. If the data elements from the twosources do not match, the card transaction would be declined and themerchant would be prompted to confiscate the counterfeit card. The radiofrequency reader, which may be referred to as a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) reader and which reads the contactless transactiondata, should be placed within about 10 cm of the magnetic stripe swipe,so that the device can gather the data from both sources simultaneously.

Furthermore, IA codes may be updated to contain data that indicate thata card has a contactless chip. Either the terminal or the authorizationsystem will then do a security check to make sure the card does in facthave a radio frequency chip. This security feature will preventfraudsters from breaking a chip or rewriting magnetic stripe data toindicate that the fraudulent card does not have a contactless chip.

Another advantage of the present invention is that consumers still mayswipe the card, but as the card is being passed through the terminal itwill actually complete the transaction using radio frequency. Consumersmay not even know that their transaction was processed using contactlessrather than traditional magnetic stripe, which will help speed themigration to more secure contactless payment systems.

Another advantage of the present invention is a reduction of payouts forfraudulent transactions to merchants and a reduction in customer servicecosts associated with processing these fraudulent claims. The presentinvention makes the contactless transaction value proposition evenstronger for merchants, thus providing incremental benefits in merchantvalue and accelerating the adoption of contactless payment systems.

Further features and advantages of the present invention as well as thestructure and operation of various embodiments of the present inventionare described in detail below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken inconjunction with the drawings in which like reference numbers indicateidentical or functionally similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary RFID-based system in accordance with thepresent invention, wherein exemplary components used for contactlesscard transaction completion are depicted;

FIG. 1A is a schematic view, partly in section, of a financialtransaction instrument according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of internal circuitry of an exemplarycontactless card in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary RFID reader/magneticstripe reader with which the embodiment of FIG. 1A can be used;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flow diagram of an exemplary authenticationprocess in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4A is an exemplary flow diagram of additional comparison andverification processing in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow diagram of an exemplary decision process fora protocol/sequence controller in accordance with the present invention;and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary payment/transaction process inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to a transaction instrument(hereinafter termed “card” for brevity, but not limited to having thefaun of any particular known instrument, provided only that theinstrument is able to perform the functions described herein) andpreferably a financial transaction instrument, having a display, andhaving both a magnetic stripe that stores magnetic stripe data and acontactless chip that stores contactless transaction data. The presentinvention is now described in more detail herein in terms of anexemplary embodiment. This is for convenience only and is not intendedto limit the application of the present invention. In fact, afterreading the following description, it will be apparent to one skilled inthe relevant art(s) how to implement the following invention inalternative embodiments.

Furthermore, the terms “business” or “merchant” may be usedinterchangeably with each other and shall mean any person, entity,distributor system, software and/or hardware that is a provider, brokerand/or any other entity in the distribution chain of goods or services.For example, a merchant may be a grocery store, a retail store, a travelagency, a service provider, an on-line merchant or the like.

The terms “user,” “end user”, “consumer”, “customer,” “participant,”and/or the plural form of these terms are used interchangeablythroughout herein to refer to those persons or entities capable ofaccessing, using, being affected by and/or benefiting from the presentinvention.

A “transaction account” as used herein refers to an account associatedwith an open account or a closed account system (as described below).The transaction account may exist in a physical or non-physicalembodiment. For example, a transaction account may be distributed innon-physical embodiments such as an account number, frequent-flyeraccount, telephone calling account or the like. Furthermore, a physicalembodiment of a transaction account may be distributed as a financialinstrument.

With regard to use of a transaction account, users may communicate withmerchants in person (e.g., at the box office), telephonically, orelectronically (e.g., from a user computer via the Internet). During theinteraction, the merchant may offer goods and/or services to the user.The merchant may also offer the user the option of paying for the goodsand/or services using any number of available transaction accounts.Furthermore, the transaction accounts may be used by the merchant as aform of identification of the user. The merchant may have a computingunit implemented in the form of a computer-server, although otherimplementations are possible.

In general, transaction accounts may be used for transactions betweenthe user and merchant through any suitable communication device, suchas, for example, a telephone network, intranet, the global, publicInternet, a point of interaction device (e.g., a point of sale (POS)device, personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile telephone, kiosk,etc.), online communications, off-line communications, wirelesscommunications, and/or the like.

The card may be a traditional plastic transaction card,titanium-containing, or another metal-containing, transaction card,clear and/or a translucent transaction card, a foldable or otherwiseunconventionally-sized transaction card, or other types of transactioncards, such as credit, charge, debit, pre-paid or stored-value cards, orany other like financial or other transaction instrument. The card mayalso have electronic functionality provided by a network of electroniccircuitry that is printed or otherwise incorporated onto or within thetransaction instrument (and typically referred to as a “smart card”).

An “account,” “account number” or “account code”, as used herein, mayinclude any device, code, number, letter, symbol, digital certificate,smart chip, digital signal, analog signal, biometric or otheridentifier/indicia suitably configured to allow a consumer to access,interact with or communicate with a financial transaction system.

The account number may be distributed and stored in any form of plastic,electronic, magnetic, radio frequency (RF), wireless, audio and/oroptical device capable of transmitting or downloading data from itselfto a second device. A customer account number may be, for example, asixteen-digit credit card number. Each credit card issuer has its ownnumbering system, such as the fifteen-digit numbering system used byAmerican Express Company of New York, N.Y. Each issuer's credit cardnumbers comply with that company's standardized format such that anissuer using a sixteen-digit format will generally use four spaced setsof numbers in the form of:

N₁N₂N₃N₄ N₅N₆N₇N₈ N₉N₁₀N₁₁N₁₂ N₁₃N₁₄N₁₅N₁₆

The first five to seven digits are reserved for processing purposes andidentify the issuing institution, card type, etc. In this example, thelast (sixteenth) digit is typically used as a sum check for thesixteen-digit number. The intermediary eight-to-ten digits are used as aunique identification of the customer, card holder or card member.

A merchant account number may be, for example, any number oralpha-numeric characters that identify a particular merchant forpurposes of card acceptance, account reconciliation, reporting and thelike.

As mentioned above, the financial transaction instrument or device ofthe invention is usable with the dual-capture POS terminal described inco-pending A. No. 60/863,320, and while the invention is by no meanslimited to use with such a terminal, the following description assumesknowledge and understanding of the disclosure in the mentionedco-pending application.

The magnetic stripe of the financial instrument may include data to tellthe POS terminal that a contactless chip is present. The terminal shouldinteract with the card to identify that it has a radio frequency chip,allowing the POS terminal to compare data between the magnetic stripeand the contactless chip while the swipe is occurring. The POS terminalmay be able to read both simultaneously and validate the Track 1 and 2data from the magnetic stripe against the information on the chip.

It should be noted that the transfer of information in accordance withthe present invention may be done in a format recognizable by a merchantsystem or account issuer. In that regard, by way of example, theinformation may be transmitted from an RFID device to an RFID reader, orfrom the RFID reader to the merchant system in magnetic stripe ormulti-track magnetic stripe format. Also, data may be read from amagnetic stripe of a contactless transaction card and compared to theinformation transmitted by RF.

Because of the proliferation of devices using magnetic stripe format,the standards for coding information in magnetic stripe format werestandardized by the international Organization for Standardization inISO/IEC 7811 (characteristics for identification cards) which areincorporated herein by reference. The ISO/IEC 7811 standards specify theconditions for conformance, physical characteristics for the card(warpage and surface distortions) and the magnetic stripe area(location, height and surface profile, roughness, adhesion, wear andresistance to chemicals), the signal amplitude performancecharacteristics of the magnetic stripe, the encoding specificationincluding technique (MFM), angle of recording, bit density, fluxtransition spacing variation and signal amplitude, the data structureincluding track format, use of error correction techniques, user datacapacity for ID-1, ID-2 and ID-3 size cards, and decoding techniques,and the location of encoded tracks.

Typically, magnetic stripe information is formatted in three tracks.Certain industry information must be maintained on certain portion ofthe tracks, while other portions of the tracks may have open datafields. The contents of each track and the formatting of the informationprovided to each track are controlled by the ISO/IEC 7813 standard. Forexample, the information must typically be encoded as binary data. Track1 is usually encoded with user information (i.e., name) in alphanumericformat. Track 2 is typically comprised of discretionary andnondiscretionary data fields. In one example, the nondiscretionary fieldmay comprise 19 characters and the discretionary field may comprise 13characters. Track 3 is typically reserved for financial transactions andincludes enciphered versions of the user's personal identificationnumber, country code, current units amount authorized per cycle,subsidiary accounts, and restrictions.

As such, where information is provided in accordance with the presentinvention, it may be provided in magnetic stripe format. For example,the counter values, authentication tags and encrypted identifiersdescribed herein, may be forwarded encoded in all or a portion of a datastream representing data encoded in, for example, track 2 or track 3format.

The present invention may employ various integrated circuit components,e.g., memory elements, processing elements, logic elements, look-uptables, and the like, which may carry out a variety of functions underthe control of one or more microprocessors or other control devices.Similarly, the software elements of the present invention may beimplemented with any programming or scripting language such as C, C++,Java, COBOL, assembler, PERL, extensible markup language (XML), JavaCardand MULTOS with the various algorithms being implemented with anycombination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or otherprogramming elements. Further, it should be noted that the presentinvention may employ any number of conventional techniques for datatransmission, signaling, data processing, network control, and the like.For a basic introduction on cryptography, review a text written by BruceSchneier entitled “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, andSource Code in C,” published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1996), herein incorporated by reference.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary RFID/magnetic stripe transaction system100A in accordance with the present invention, wherein exemplarycomponents for use in completing a contactless card transaction aredepicted. In general, the operation of system 100A may begin when card102 (or a tag-type fob or other instrument having a magnetic stripe andthe proper form factor to fit in a conventional card reading slot) ispresented for payment, and is interrogated by RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 and the magnetic stripe is read. Card 102 and RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 may then engage in mutualauthentication after which the transponder 102 may provide thetransponder identification and/or account identifier to the RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104, both via RF and via the magneticstripe reader, which may further provide the information to the merchantsystem 130 POS device 110.

System 100A may include a card 102 having a transponder 114 and a RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 in RF communication with card 102.

The RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 may be configured tocommunicate using a RFID internal antenna 106. Alternatively, RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 may include an external antenna 108for communications with card 102, where the external antenna may be maderemote to the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 using a suitablecable and/or data link 120. RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 maybe further in communication with a merchant system 130 via a data link122. The system 100A may include a transaction completion systemincluding a point of interaction device such as, for example, a merchantpoint of sale (POS) device 110 or a computer interface (e.g., userinterface) 134. In one exemplary embodiment the transaction completionsystem may include a merchant system 130 including the POS device 110 incommunication with a RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 (via datalink 122).

Although the point of interaction device is described herein withrespect to a merchant point of sale (POS) device, the invention is notto be so limited. Indeed, a merchant POS device is used herein by way ofexample, and the point of interaction device may be any device capableof receiving contactless and magnetic stripe account data. In thisregard, the POS may be any point of interaction device enabling the userto complete a transaction using a card 102. POS device 110 may be infurther communication with a customer interface 118 (via data link 128)for entering at least a customer identity verification information. Inaddition, POS device 110 may be in communication with a merchant hostnetwork 112 (via data link 124) for processing any transaction request.In this arrangement, information provided by RFID reader/magnetic stripereader 104 is provided to the POS device 110 of merchant system 130 viadata link 122. The POS device 110 may receive the information (andalternatively may receive any identity verifying information fromcustomer interface 118 via data link 128) and provide the information tohost system 112 for processing.

A variety of conventional communications media and protocols may be usedfor data links 120, 122, 124, and 128. For example, data links 120, 122,124, and 128 may be an Internet Service Provider (ISP) configured tofacilitate communications over a local loop as is typically used inconnection with standard modem communication, cable modem, dishnetworks, ISDN, Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL), or any wirelesscommunication media. In addition, the merchant system 130 including thePOS device 110 and host network 112 may reside on a local area networkwhich interfaces to a remote network (not shown) for remoteauthorization of an intended transaction. The merchant system 130 maycommunicate with the remote network via a leased line, such as a T1, D3line, or the like. Such communications lines are described in a varietyof texts, such as, “Understanding Data Communications,” by Gilbert Held,which is incorporated herein by reference.

An “account number”, as used herein, may include any identifier for anaccount (e.g., credit, charge debit, checking, savings, reward, loyalty,or the like) which may be maintained by a transaction account provider(e.g., payment authorization center) and which may be used to complete afinancial transaction. A typical account number (e.g., account data) maybe correlated to a credit or debit account, loyalty account, or rewardsaccount maintained and serviced by such entities as American Express,Visa and/or MasterCard or the like. For ease in understanding, thepresent invention may be described with respect to a credit account.However, it should be noted that the invention is not so limited andother accounts permitting an exchange of goods and services for anaccount data value is contemplated to be within the scope of the presentinvention, and as noted above, the card is not limited to being forfinancial transactions at all.

In addition, the account number (e.g., account data) may be associatedwith any device, code, or other identifier/indicia suitably configuredto allow the consumer to interact or communicate with the system, suchas, for example, authorization/access code, personal identificationnumber (PIN), Internet code, digital certificate, biometric data, and/orother identification indicia. A customer account number may be, forexample, a sixteen-digit credit card number, although each creditprovider has its own numbering system, such as the fifteen-digitnumbering system used by American Express. Each company's credit cardnumbers comply with that company's standardized format such that thecompany using a sixteen-digit format will generally use four spaced setsof numbers, as represented by the number “0000 0000 0000 0000”. In atypical example, the first five to seven digits are reserved forprocessing purposes and identify the issuing bank, card type and etc. Inthis example, the last sixteenth digit is used as a sum check for thesixteen-digit number. The intermediary eight-to-ten digits are used touniquely identify the customer. The account number is stored as Track 1and Track 2 data as defined in ISO/IEC 7813, and further may be madeunique to card 102. In one exemplary embodiment, the account number mayinclude a unique, card serial number and user identification number, aswell as specific application applets. The account number may be storedin card 102 inside a database 214, as described more fully below.Database 214 may be configured to store multiple account numbers issuedto the card 102 user by the same or different account providinginstitutions. Where the account data corresponds to a loyalty or rewardsaccount, the database 214 may be configured to store the attendantloyalty or rewards points data.

FIGS. 1A and 2 illustrate certain of the functional blocks of anexemplary card 102 in accordance with the present invention. Card 102may be a contactless transaction card or other type of RFID device 102which may be presented by the user to facilitate an exchange of funds orpoints, etc., for receipt of goods or services. As described herein, byway of example, card 102 may be a contactless transaction card whichincludes a magnetic stripe 142 (indicated by the dotted lines in FIG.1A) and which may be presented for facilitating payment for goods and/orservices.

Card 102 is provided with a display 140 at one surface. Display 140 mayemploy any convenient programmable display technology. Examples arelight-emitting diodes, liquid crystals, low-energy plasma devices,electroluminescent devices, or any other type of display that can becontrolled electronically. Also provided in card 102 is a displaycontroller 144, which determines what information is currentlydisplayed. Such circuitry is well understood by those in the art, andhence further description will be omitted.

Also provided is an on-board power source, shown exemplarily as battery146. While it is known for contactless cards to operate on energyreceived when the card is interrogated, the amount of energy received inthat fashion may be too minute to power a display, and for this reasonthe battery 146 has been provided. Many kinds of batteries are wellknown to those in the art, and any suitable type may be used withoutdeparting from the invention. In particular, battery 146 is preferably adisposable one that can be relied upon to last for the normal lifetimeof a card, or even longer, but it may alternatively be a rechargeable orreplaceable battery. If a rechargeable battery is used, then of coursecard 102 is also provided with an electrical port by means of whichbattery 146 can be connected to a charging unit, while if battery 146 isreplaceable, then card 102, is provided with a removable portion topermit access to the battery to replace it. Such port and such removableportion, however, are not illustrated.

In the preferred embodiment, card 102 also is provided with circuitryand other physical elements as described below that make it possible torewrite at least a portion of the information stored in magnetic stripe142. In the example described herein, it is assumed that four digits ofthe account number are modified from time to time, but it is within thescope of the invention the number of digits that are modifiable to belarger or smaller than four.

Generally, the means provided for modifying the information stored inthe magnetic stripe 142, and in particular certain digits of the accountnumber, include small magnetic write heads located within card 102itself, powered by the on-board power source 146. When it is determinedduring the operation of card 102 that the account number ought to bemodified, and a new account number is generated to replace the existingone, then the write heads are selectively activated to overwrite theportions of magnetic stripe 142 that store the digits of the accountnumber that are being changed. Details of the structure of such on-cardwrite heads, and of the circuitry required to control the heads, arebelieved to be within the scope of those skilled in the relevant arts,and will not be elaborated herein. For examples of descriptions ofon-card or other write heads and their control the reader is referred toU.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0192006 A 1 and U.S. Pat. No.7,044,394, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

Also present in card 102 is a processor 148, the functions of which aredescribed below. While processor 148 is illustrated as a separate blockfrom the elements shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2, the hardwareused as processor 148 and that used as certain of the blocks in FIG. 2may in fact be the same, in whole or in part.

Card 102 may include an antenna 202 for receiving an interrogationsignal from RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 via antenna 106 (oralternatively, via external antenna 108). Card antenna 202 may be incommunication with a transponder 114. In one exemplary embodiment,transponder 114 may be a 13.56 MHz transponder compliant with theISO/IEC 14443 standard, and antenna 202 may be of the 13 MHz variety.The transponder 114 may be in communication with a transpondercompatible modulator/demodulator 206 configured to receive the signalfrom transponder 114 and configured to modulate the signal into a formatreadable by any later connected circuitry. Further,modulator/demodulator 206 may be configured to format (e.g., demodulate)a signal received from the later connected circuitry in a formatcompatible with transponder 114 for transmitting to RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 via antenna 202. For example, where transponder 114 isof the 13.56 MHz variety, modulator/demodulator 206 may be ISO/IEC14443-2 compliant.

Modulator/demodulator 206 may be coupled to a protocol/sequencecontroller 208 for facilitating control of the authentication of thesignal provided by RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104, and forfacilitating control of the sending of the card account number. In thisregard, protocol/sequence controller 208 may be any suitable digital orlogic driven circuitry capable of facilitating determination of thesequence of operation for the card inner circuitry. For example,protocol/sequence controller 208 may be configured to determine whetherthe signal provided by the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 isauthenticated, and thereby providing to the RFID reader/magnetic stripereader 104 the account number stored on card 102.

Protocol/sequence controller 208 may further be in communication withauthentication circuitry 210 for facilitating authentication of thesignal provided by RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104.Authentication circuitry may be further in communication with anon-volatile secure memory database 212. Secure memory database 212 maybe any suitable elementary file system, such as that defined by ISO/IEC7816-4, or any other elementary file system allowing a look-up of datato be interpreted by the application on the chip. Database 212 may beany type of database, such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented,or the like. Common database products that may be used to implement thedatabases include DB2 by IBM (White Plains, N.Y.), any of the databaseproducts available from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, Calif.),Microsoft Access or MSSQL by Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), orany other database product. Database 212 may be organized in anysuitable manner, including as data tables or lookup tables. Associationof certain data may be accomplished through any data associationtechnique known and practiced in the art. For example, the associationmay be accomplished either manually or automatically. Automaticassociation techniques may include, for example, a database search, adatabase merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, and/or the like. The association stepmay be accomplished by a database merge function, for example, using a“key field” in each of the manufacturer and retailer data tables, A “keyfield” partitions the database according to the high-level class ofobjects defined by the key field. For example, a certain class may bedesignated as a key field in both the first data table and the seconddata table, and the two data tables may then be merged on the basis ofthe class data in the key field. In this embodiment, the datacorresponding to the key field in each of the merged data tables ispreferably the same. However, data tables having similar, though notidentical, data in the key fields may also be merged by using AGREP, forexample.

The data may be used by protocol/sequence controller 208 for dataanalysis and used for management and control purposes, as well assecurity purposes. Authentication circuitry may authenticate the signalprovided by RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 by association of theRFID signal to authentication keys stored on database 212. Encryptioncircuitry may use keys stored on database 212 to perform encryptionand/or decryption of signals sent to or from the RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104.

In addition, protocol/sequence controller 208 may be in communicationwith a database 214 for storing at least card account data, and a uniquecard identification code for card 102. Protocol/sequence controller 208may be configured to retrieve the account number from database 214 asdesired. Database 214 may be of the same configuration as database 212described above. The card account data and/or unique card identificationcode stored on database 214 may be encrypted prior to storage. Thus,where protocol/sequence controller 208 retrieves the account data, andor unique card identification code from database 214, the account numbermay be encrypted when being provided to RFID reader/magnetic stripereader 104. Further, the data stored on database 214 may include, forexample, an unencrypted unique card identification code, a useridentification, Track 1 and 2 data, as well as specific applicationapplets.

Card 102 may include means for enabling activation of the card by theuser. In one exemplary embodiment, a switch 230 which may be operated bythe user of the card 102. The switch 230 on card 102 may be used toselectively or inclusively activate the card 102 for particular uses. Inthis context, the teen “selectively” may mean that the switch 230enables the user to place the card 102 in a particular operational mode.For example, the user may place the card 102 in a mode for enablingpurchase of a good or of a service using a selected account number. Inaddition, the term “inclusively” may mean that the card 102 is placed inan operational mode permitting the card 102 to be responsive to the RFinterrogation and interrogation via the USB connector 132. In oneparticular embodiment, the switch 230 may remain in an OFF position toensure that one or more applications or accounts associated with thecard 102 are non-reactive to any commands issued by RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104. As used herein, the OFF position may be termed the“normal” position of the activation switch 230, although other normalpositions are contemplated.

In another exemplary embodiment, when the switch 230 is moved from theOFF position, the card 102 may be deemed activated by the user. That is,the switch 230 may activate internal circuitry in card 102 forpermitting the card to be responsive to RF signals (e.g., commands fromRFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104). In this way, switch 230 mayfacilitate control of the active and inactive states of the card 102.Such control increases the system security by preventing inadvertent orillegal use of the card 102.

In one exemplary embodiment, switch 230 may be a simple mechanicaldevice in communication with circuitry which may electrically preventthe card from being powered by a RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader.That is, when switch 230 is in its normal position, switch 230 mayprovide a short to the card 102 internal circuitry, preventing card 102from being responsive to interrogation by RF or via the USB connector230. In this arrangement, the switch 230 may be, for example, a“normally closed” (NC) configured switch, which may be electricallyconnected to the antenna 202 at the interface of the antenna 202 and thetransponder 114. The switch 230 may be depressed, which may open theswitch 230 fully activating the antenna 202.

In yet another embodiment, the switch 230 may be a logic switch. Whereswitch 230 is a logic switch the switch control software may be readfrom the sequence controller 208 to selectively control the activationof the various card 102 components.

Also, while the user can turn card 102 on or off by means of the switch,the processor may also be programmed to turn the display off a set timeafter activation.

Moreover, switch 230 has been described as having an OFF position andanother position, but it is not limited to having only two positions,and may in fact have three or more, or may be implemented as an array ofindividual switches, such that by placing each in a respective positionthe user selects among whatever number of operational states or modes itis desired to permit the user to activate. In addition, as mentioned,the user may employ switch 230 to activate display and other functionsof card 102, and thereafter all or some of these functions will shutdown after the lapse of a preset length of time. Moreover, switch 230may be a mechanical, electromechanical, capacitance or other known typeof switch, a logic switch, or a biometric device that causes activationof card 102 upon recognizing a predetermined biometric of the user. Theimplementation of these various types of switch are believed to bewithin the ordinary skill in the relevant arts, and hence will not bedescribed.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 that can be used with the card of the presentinvention. RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 includes, for example,an antenna 106 coupled to a RF module 302, which is further coupled to acontrol module 304. In addition, RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104may include an antenna 108 positioned remotely from the RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 and coupled to RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 via a suitable cable 120, or other wire or wirelessconnection.

RF module 302 and antenna 106 may be suitably configured to facilitatecommunication with card 102. Where card 102 is formatted to receive asignal at a particular RF frequency, RF module 302 may be configured toprovide an interrogation signal at that same frequency. For example, inone exemplary embodiment, card 102 may be configured to respond to aninterrogation signal of about 13.56 MHz. In this case, RBI) antenna 106may be 13 MHz and may be configured to transmit an interrogation signalof about 13.56 MHz. That is, card 102 may be configured to include afirst and second RF module (e.g., transponder) where the first modulemay operate using a 134 kHz frequency and the second RF module mayoperate using a 13.56 MHz frequency. The RFID reader/magnetic stripereader 104 may include two receivers which may operate using the 134 kHzfrequency, the 13.56 MHz frequency or both. When the reader 104 isoperating at 134 kHz frequency, only operation with the 134 kHz moduleon the card 102 may be possible. When the reader 104 is operating at the13.56 MHz frequency, only operation with the 13.56 MHz module on thecard 102 may be possible. Where the reader 104 supports both a 134 kHzfrequency and a 13.56 MHz RF module, the card 102 may receive bothsignals from the reader 104. In this case, the card 102 may beconfigured to prioritize selection of the one or the other frequency andreject the remaining frequency. Alternatively, the reader 104 mayreceive signals at both frequencies from the card upon interrogation. Inthis case, the reader 104 may be configured to prioritize selection ofone or the other frequency and reject the remaining frequency.

Further, protocol/sequence controller 314 may include an optionalfeedback function for notifying the user of the status of a particulartransaction. For example, the optional feedback may be in the form of anLED, LED screen and/or other visual display which is configured to lightup or display a static, scrolling, flashing and/or other message and/orsignal to inform the card user that the transaction is initiated (e.g.,card is being interrogated), the card is valid (e.g., card isauthenticated), transaction is being processed, (e.g., card accountnumber is being read by RFID reader) and/or the transaction is acceptedor denied (e.g., transaction approved or disapproved). Such an optionalfeedback may or may not be accompanied by an audible indicator (or maypresent the audible indicator singly) for informing the card user of thetransaction status. The audible feedback may be a simple tone, multipletones, musical indicator, and/or voice indicator configured to signifywhen the card 102 is being interrogated, the transaction status, or thelike.

RFID antenna 106 may be in communication with a transponder 306 fortransmitting an interrogation signal and receiving at least one of anauthentication request signal and/or an account data from card 102.Transponder 306 may be of similar description as transponder 114 of FIG.2. In particular, transponder 306 may be configured to send and/orreceive RF signals in a format compatible with antenna 202 in similarmanner as was described with respect to card transponder 114. Forexample, where transponder 306 is 13.56 MHz RF rated antenna 202 may be13.56 MHz compatible. Similarly, where transponder 306 is ISO/IEC 14443rated, antenna 106 may be ISO/IEC 14443 compatible.

RF module 302 may include, for example, transponder 306 in communicationwith authentication circuitry 308 which may be in communication with asecure database 310. Authentication circuitry 308 and database 310 maybe of similar description and operation as described with respect toauthentication circuitry 210 and secure memory database 212 of FIG. 2.For example, database 310 may store data corresponding to the card 102which are authorized to transact business over system 100. Database 310may additionally store RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104identifying information for providing to card 102 for use inauthenticating whether RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 isauthorized to be provided the card account number stored on carddatabase 214.

Authentication circuitry 308 may be of similar description and operationto authentication circuitry 210. That is, authentication circuitry 308may be configured to authenticate the signal provided by card 102 insimilar manner that authentication circuitry 210 may be configured toauthenticate the signal provided by RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader104. As is described more fully below, card 102 and RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 engage in an authentication process in which reader104 uses the information obtained wirelessly from card 102 to verify theinformation read form magnetic stripe 142 of card 102.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary authentication process inaccordance with the present invention. The authentication process isdepicted as one-sided. That is, the flowchart depicts the process of theRFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 authenticating the card 102,although similar steps may be followed in the instance that card 102authenticates RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104.

As noted, database 212 may store security keys for encrypting ordecrypting signals received from RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104.In an exemplary authentication process, where RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 is authenticating card 102, RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 may provide an interrogation signal to card 102 (step402). The interrogation signal may include a random code generated bythe RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader authentication circuit 210, whichis provided to the card 102 and which is encrypted using an uniqueencryption key corresponding to the card 102 unique identification code.For example, the protocol/sequence controller 314 may provide a commandto activate the authentication circuitry 308. Authentication circuitry308 may provide from database 310 a card interrogation signal includinga random number as a part of the authentication code generated for eachauthentication signal. The authentication code may be an alphanumericcode which is recognizable (e.g., readable) by the RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 and the card 102. The authentication code may beprovided to the card 102 via the RFID RF interface 306 and antenna 106(or alternatively antenna 108).

Card 102 receives the interrogation signal (step 404). The interrogationsignal including the authorization code may be received at the RFinterface 114 via antenna 202. Once the card 102 is activated, theinterrogation signal including the authorization code may be provided tothe modulator/demodulator circuit 206 where the signal may bedemodulated prior to providing the signal to protocol/sequencecontroller 208. Protocol/sequence controller 208 may recognize theinterrogation signal as a request for authentication of the card 102,and provide the authentication code to authentication circuit 210. Thecard 102 may then encrypt the authentication code (step 406). Inparticular, encryption may be done by authentication circuit 210, whichmay receive the authentication code and encrypt the code prior toproviding the encrypted authentication code to protocol/sequencecontroller 208. Card 102 may then provide the encrypted authenticationcode to the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 (step 408). That is,the encrypted authentication code may be provided to the RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 via modulator/demodulator circuit 206,RF interface 114 (e.g., transponder 114) and antenna 202.

RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 may then receive the encryptedauthentication code and decrypt it (step 410). That is, the encryptedauthentication code may be received at antenna 106 and RF interface 306and may be provided to authentication circuit 308. Authenticationcircuit 308 may be provided a security authentication key (e.g.,transponder system decryption key) from database 310. The authenticationcircuit may use the authentication key to decrypt (e.g., unlock) theencrypted authorization code. The authentication key may be provided tothe authentication circuit based on the card 102 unique identificationcode. For example, the encrypted authentication code may be providedalong with the unique card 102 identification code. The authenticationcircuit may receive the card 102 unique identification code and retrievefrom the database 310 a transponder system decryption key correlative tothe unique card 102 identification code for use in decrypting theencrypted authentication code.

Once the authentication code is decrypted, the decrypted authenticationcode is compared to the authentication code provided by the RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 at step 402 (step 412) to verify itsauthenticity. If the decrypted authorization code is not readable (e.g.,recognizable) by the authentication circuit 308, the card 102 is deemedto be unauthorized (e.g., unverified) (step 418) and the operation ofsystem 100 is terminated (step 420). Contrarily, if the decryptedauthorization code is recognizable (e.g., verified) by the card 102, thedecrypted authorization code is deemed to be authenticated (step 414),and the transaction is allowed to proceed (step 416). Preferably,however, before the transaction proceeds, further verificationprocessing occurs, as illustrated in FIG. 4A.

In an exemplary verification process, the authorization circuit 308 maydetermine whether the unlocked authorization code is identical to theauthorization code provided in step 402. If the codes are not identicalthen the card 102 is not authorized to access system 100. Although theverification process is described with respect to identicality beingused as the verification test, identicality is not the only test thatcan be used. For example, authentication circuit 308 may verify thedecrypted code through any protocol, steps, or process for determiningwhether the decrypted code corresponds to an authorized card 102.

Authentication circuitry 308 may additionally be in communication with aprotocol/sequence controller 314 of similar operation and description asprotocol/sequence controller 208 of FIG. 2. That is, protocol/sequencedevice controller 314 may be configured to determine the order ofoperation of the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 components. Forexample, FIG. 5 illustrates and exemplary decision process under whichprotocol/sequence controller 314 may operate. Protocol/sequencecontroller 314 may command the different components of RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 based on whether a card 102 is present(step 502). For example, if a card 102 is not present, thenprotocol/sequence controller 314 may command the RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 to provide, an uninterrupted interrogation signal(step 504). That is, the protocol/sequence controller may command theauthentication circuit 308 to provide an uninterrupted interrogationsignal until the presence of a card 102 is realized. If a card 102 ispresent, the protocol/sequence controller 314 may command the RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 to authenticate the card 102 (step506).

As noted above, “authentication” may mean that the protocol/sequencecontroller 314 may command the authentication circuit 308 to providecard 102 with an authorization code. If a response is received from card102, protocol/sequence controller may determine if the response is aresponse to the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 providedauthentication code, or if the response is a signal requiringauthentication (step 508). If the signal requires authentication, thenthe protocol/sequence controller 314 may activate the authenticationcircuit as described above (step 506). On the other hand, if the card102 signal is a response to the provided authentication code, then theprotocol/sequence controller 314 may command the RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 to retrieve the appropriate security key for enablingrecognition of the signal (step 510). That is, the protocol/sequencecontroller 314 may command the authentication circuit 308 to retrievefrom database 310 a security key (e.g., transponder system decryptionkey), unlock the signal, and compare the signal to the signal providedby the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 in the authenticationprocess (e.g., step 506). If the signal is recognized, theprotocol/sequence controller 314 may determine that the card 102 isauthorized to access the system 100. If the signal is not recognized,then the card is considered not authorized. In which case, theprotocol/sequence controller 314 may command the RFID controller tointerrogate for authorized cards (step 504).

As shown in FIG. 4A, reader 114 reads information from magnetic stripe142 of card 102 (step 422), and compares that information withcorresponding information that has been received wirelessly from card102 (step 424). If the two match (step 426), then the magnetic stripeinformation is considered to have been verified, authentication isdeemed fully successful (step 428), and the transaction is finallypermitted to proceed (step 430). If this comparison reveals a non-match,however, the transaction is terminated (step 432), and the merchant isprovided with a prompt to confiscate card 102 (step 434). It is simplefor this verification processing to check that the magnetic-stripeinformation is identical to the contactless information, but theverification processing is not limited to this test. Other tests may besubstituted. For example, reader 114 may require the contactless accountnumber to differ from that read from magnetic stripe 142 by a pre-setamount, or to differ by an amount that varies with the day of the weekor the date of the month or some other variable. Still other tests arealso within the broad scope of the invention, such as requiring thatcertain bits of the contactless account number, when expressed in binaryform, are each complementary to the corresponding bits of themagnetic-stripe account number, or the relation required might be thatcertain digits of one are the 9's complements of the correspondingdigits of the other. These are merely examples, however, and anysuitable test may be used without departing from the broad scope of theinvention.

While the process is illustrated in FIG. 4A as requiring a match betweenthe information read from magnetic stripe 142 and the correspondinginformation read contactlessly, it is also within the scope of theinvention to require some other predetermined relation between the twocorresponding pieces of information.

Once the protocol/sequence controller determines that the card 102 isauthorized, the protocol/sequence controller 314 may seek to determineif additional signals are being sent by card 102 (step 514). If noadditional signal is provided by card 102, then the protocol/sequencecontroller 314 may provide all the components of RFID reader/magneticstripe reader 104 to remain idle until such time as a signal is provided(step 516). Contrarily, where an additional card 102 signal is provided,the protocol/sequence controller 314 may determine if the card 102 isrequesting access to the merchant point of sale terminal 110 (e.g., POSdevice) or if the card 102 is attempting to interrogate the RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 for return (e.g., mutual)authorization (step 518). Where the card 102 is requesting access to amerchant point of sale terminal 110, the protocol/sequence controller314 may command the RFID reader to open communications with the point ofsale terminal 110 (step 524). In particular, the protocol/sequencecontroller may command the point of sale terminal communicationsinterface 312 to become active, permitting transfer of data between theRFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 and the merchant point of saleterminal 110.

On the other hand, if the protocol/sequence controller determines thatthe card 102 signal is a mutual interrogation signal, then theprotocol/sequence controller may command the RFID reader/magnetic stripereader 104 to encrypt the signal (step 520). The protocol/sequencecontroller 314 may command the encryption authentication circuit 318 toretrieve from database 320 the appropriate encryption key in response tothe card 102 mutual interrogation signal. The protocol/sequencecontroller 314 may then command the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader104 to provide the encrypted mutual interrogation signal to the card102. The protocol/sequence controller 314 may command the authenticationcircuit 318 to provide an encrypted mutual interrogation signal for thecard 102 to mutually authenticate. Card 102 may then receive theencrypted mutual interrogation signal and retrieve from authenticationcircuitry 212 a RFID reader decryption key.

Although an exemplary decision process of protocol/sequence controller314 is described, it should be understood that a similar decisionprocess may be undertaken by protocol/sequence controller 208 incontrolling the components of card 102. Indeed, as described above,protocol/sequence controller 314 may have similar operation and designas protocol/sequence controller 208. In addition, to the above,protocol/sequence controllers 208 and 314 may incorporate in thedecision process appropriate commands for enabling USB interfaces 222and 316, when the corresponding device is so connected.

Encryption/decryption component 318 may be further in communication witha secure account number database 320 which stores the security keysnecessary for decrypting the encrypted card account number. Uponappropriate request from protocol/sequence controller 314,encryption/decryption component (e.g., circuitry 318) may retrieve theappropriate security key, decrypt the card account number and forwardthe decrypted account number to protocol sequence controller 314 in anyformat readable by any later connected POS device 110. In one exemplaryembodiment, the account number may be forwarded in a conventionalmagnetic stripe format compatible with the ISO/IEC 7813 standard. Uponreceiving the account number in magnetic stripe format,protocol/sequence controller 314 may forward the account number to POSdevice 110 via a communications interface 312 and data link 122, as bestshown in FIG. 1. POS device 110 may receive the decrypted account numberand forward the magnetic stripe formatted account number to a merchantnetwork 112 for processing under the merchant's business as usualstandard. In this way, the present invention eliminates the need of athird-party server. Further, where the POS device 110 receives aresponse from network 112 (e.g., transaction authorized or denied),protocol/sequence controller 314 may provide the network response to theRF module 302 for optically and/or audibly communicating the response tothe card 102 user.

RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 may additionally include a USBinterface 316, in communication with the protocol/sequence controller314. In one embodiment, the USB interface may be a RS22 serial datainterface. Alternatively, the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 mayinclude a serial interface such as, for example, a RS232 interface incommunication with the protocol/sequence controller 314. The USBconnector 316 may be in communication with a personalization system 116for initializing RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 to system 100application parameters. That is, prior to operation of system 100, RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 may be in communication withpersonalization system 116 for populating database 310 with a listing ofsecurity keys belonging to authorized cards 102, and for populatingdatabase 320 with the security keys to decrypt the card 102 accountnumbers placing the account numbers in ISO/IEC 7813 format. In this way,RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 may be populated with a uniqueidentifier (e.g., serial number) which may be used by cardauthentication circuitry 210 to determine if RFID reader/magnetic stripereader 104 is authorized to receive a card 102 encrypted account number.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram for the operation of system100A. The operation may be understood with reference to FIG. 1, whichdepicts the elements of system 100A which may be used in an exemplarytransaction. The process is initiated when a customer desires to presenta card 102 for payment (step 802). Upon presentation of the card 102,the merchant initiates the RF payment procedure via an RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader 104 (step 804). In particular, the RFIDreader sends out an interrogation signal to scan for the presence ofcard 102 (step 806). The RF signal may be provided via the RFID readerantenna 106 or optionally via an external antenna 108. The customer thenmay present the card 102 for payment (step 808) by swiping the card 102in a conventional magnetic stripe reader slot of the RFIDreader/magnetic stripe reader to read the magnetic stripe Track 1/Track2 data, and at the same time, the card 102 is activated by the RFinterrogation signal provided.

The card 102 and the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 may thenengage in mutual authentication (step 810). Where the mutualauthentication is unsuccessful, an error message may be provided to thecustomer via the RFID optical and/or audible indicator (step 814) andthe transaction may be aborted (step 816). Where the mutualauthentication is successful (step 814), the RFID reader/magnetic stripereader 104 may provide the customer with an appropriate optical and/oraudible message (e.g., “transaction processing” or “wait”) (step 818).The card protocol/sequence controller 208 may then retrieve fromdatabase 214 an encrypted card account number and provide the encryptedaccount number to the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 (step 820).

The RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 may then decrypt the accountnumber and convert the account number into magnetic stripe (ISO/IEC7813) format (step 822), compare the converted data to the data readfrom the magnetic stripe, and provide the unencrypted account number tothe merchant system 130 (step 828). In particular, the account numbermay be provided to the POS 110 device for transmission to the merchantnetwork 112 for processing under known business transaction standards.The POS device 110 may then send an optical and/or audible transactionstatus message to the RFID reader/magnetic stripe reader 104 (step 830)for communication to the customer (step 832).

As was stated, card 102 can optionally have the ability to replacecertain of the account data stored in card 102, in particular theaccount number, with newly generated data, for still greater security.For this purpose there is stored in card 102 a set of one or morenumbers, which will hereinafter be termed “starting numbers”. Thesestarting numbers are used according to any of a number of algorithms togenerate successive new account numbers.

As is well known, standard financial instruments have card numbers thattypically double as the holder's account number, and that may havesixteen digits. Several of these digits conventionally identify theissuer of the card, and the combination of the others is unique to theindividual card in question. With conventional technology, this accountnumber is fixed at the time the card is issued, and does not changethereafter, unless the card is lost, stolen or returned by the holderwhen the account is closed. In each of these situations, the existingcard ceases to be active, and if the account is not closed, a new card,presumably with a new account number, is issued in its place. Accordingto the present invention, in contrast, this account number is changedfrom time to time during the life of the card, preferably after each useof the card. It is also within the scope of the invention, however, thateach number is valid for a pre-set length of time rather than for asingle use or a pre-set number of uses.

Thus, the user of card 102 may activate card 102 using switch 230 whenit is desired to make a transaction. Upon activation, processor 148accesses the starting numbers, and follows a pre-programmed algorithm togenerate a new account number. As mentioned, several of the digitscannot be changed, because they are determined by the identity of thecard issuer. The rest of the digits, or any predetermined subsetthereof, can be changed. The new account number is displayed on display140, and the card is presented to the merchant in the conventional way.If the transaction is being performed over the telephone or theInternet, then the card information, including the displayed new accountnumber, is provided orally or by being typed in.

The security of using the card of the present invention is increased bythe generation of a new account number for the card at certain times, aswill now be described.

When the card is activated, the card's internal processor activates thedisplay, which (in this embodiment) shows the card-holder's name, andthe expiration date of the card. Initially, however, the account numbermay not be displayed. Instead, the processor generates a new accountnumber, and upon the completion of this process, causes the new accountnumber to be displayed under control of display controller 144, andcauses the new number to be stored in non-volatile memory. In addition,the circuitry mentioned above that permits at least some of the contentsof magnetic stripe 142 to be rewritten, is controlled by processor 148to rewrite the account number in the stripe, so that the only accountnumber stored in magnetic stripe 142 is now the new number. The card isthen used to complete the transaction in the same manner as would bedone using a conventional wireless card. If the transaction is beingperformed on a merchant's premises, the card-holder presents the card tothe merchant, and the card information is provided by the cardwirelessly to the merchant's RFID reader. The new account number is theonly account number provided to the RFID reader, and hence is theaccount number used by the issuer in determining whether to authorizethe transaction, as will be described below. The next time the card isactivated and used, yet another new account number will be generated andused. Thus, once the user deactivates the card, or the card is turnedoff automatically by the processor after the lapse of a certain amountof time without interacting with a RFID reader, no further use is madeof the current account number.

Similarly, if the transaction is being performed via telephone orInternet, the newly generated account number displayed on the card isprovided to the merchant over the telephone or is typed in and providedto the merchant's website. Again, only this newly generated accountnumber is used by the issuer to determine whether or not to authorizethe transaction, and once the card is subsequently deactivated, thisaccount number is not used further.

Before the description proceeds to methods by which the foregoinggeneration of new account numbers is performed, it is noted that it iswithin the scope of the invention for card 102 to be used with more thanone account. In such instance, the display may initially display a listof account names, icons, or other identifiers from which the user maymake a selection, to specify which account is to be utilized at present.Such list may take the form of displaying identifiers of the accounts atonce, or of a scrolling of the identifiers of the accounts, or any otherconvenient form.

There will now be described several examples of techniques that can beused for generating the new account numbers. The same technique is usedat the issuer's side as by the card, with appropriate synchronizationbetween the two if necessary, so that at any given time, the issuerknows what account number should be presented by the user of thatparticular card the next time that card is used in a transaction.

As explained above, the account number contains several digits thatshould not be changed, as they identify the relevant bank. Also, thelast digit is used as a check-sum digit, and so will have its value bythe other fifteen digits of the new account number. Thus, only a certainnumber of the digits will actually be changed.

In a first technique, assume by way of example that four digits are tobe changed each time a new account number is needed. In this technique,the four digits are treated as being a four-digit number, and thatnumber is incremented by a value stored in the card's memory. However,the memory is provided with not just a single such incremental value,but with a large number thereof, which are used in an order which itselfis specified by the card circuitry or software. Thus, each new accountnumber differs from its predecessor, but since a different increment isused each time a new account number is produced, it is difficult for athief to predict what the next new number will be even if he is able tolearn what account number was used in a recent transaction, or inseveral recent transactions. At the issuer side, of course, the same setof incremental values is available, and is associated with theparticular card/user in question, and thus the issuer is able, each timeauthorization for a transaction is requested, to know what the currentaccount number should be.

In another approach, the incremental values are not pre-stored in thecard, but are calculated when needed. For this purpose the card isprovided with a pseudo-random number generator, which uses an inputvalue to generate a series of output numbers the values of which vary inan extremely complicated way with the input value, and with previousoutput values. The series of output values thus gives the appearance ofbeing random, although it is not, and these values are used as theincremental values, giving the successive changes to the account numberthe appearance of randomness, as well.

In this approach, the issuer uses an identical pseudorandom numbergenerator and the same input number to generate the same series ofincremental values, and thus again knows what the current correctaccount umber is.

More-complex approaches can be adopted. As one example, the card maystore not one but several such input values for use with thepseudo-random number generator, with the various input values beingselected for use in a predetermined (pre-stored) order. Again, theissuer uses the same pseudo-random number generator, and the same inputvalues, in the same order, to know at all times what the current correctaccount number is.

Further variations are possible. For example, the six-digit portion ofthe account number that is to be changed, is itself used as the inputvalue for the pseudo-random number generator. Again, a computation maybe performed using that four-digit portion and, for example, the date atthe card-user's location, and then the result of that combination isused as the input value for the pseudo-random number generator. Oneexample would be perhaps to multiply the date, written as six digits(DDMMYY) by the four-digit portion of the account number that is to bechanged, and using the first four digits of the product as the inputvalue for the pseudo-random number generator. (In this technique, it maybe necessary for the issuer to be able to identify the card user's localtime from the identity of the merchant where the card is beingpresented, or by asking the user to provide that information if thetransaction is via telephone or Internet.) Many other specificapproaches can be used to make it difficult for a would-be thief topredict correctly what the next account number will be on the basis ofany number of old ones.

In another embodiment that is within the broad scope of the invention,the card does not generate a new account number each time the card isactivated, but after every second, or every third activation (moregenerally, after each Nth activation, where N is a natural number set bythe issuer). Again, it is within the broad scope of the invention forthe account number to be replaced upon actuation of the card only if apre-set certain amount of time has elapsed since the last generation ofa new account number.

As described above, it is preferred that the new account number isstored in both the magnetic stripe and the electronic memory. Thispermits the processing shown in FIG. 4A to be used to compare the newaccount number as read both wirelessly and from the magnetic stripe 142.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it should be understood that they have been presented by way ofexample, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled inthe relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Thus, the present invention should not be limited by any ofthe above described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents. It is alsoto be understood that the steps and processes recited in the claims neednot be performed in the order presented.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a processor forcreating a second account code, a tangible, non-transitory memoryconfigured to communicate with the processor, the memory havinginstructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by theprocessor, cause the processor to be capable of performing operationscomprising: replacing, by the processor, a first portion of a firstaccount code with data to create the second account code, while a secondportion of the second account code is associated with a second portionof the first account code; and wherein the second account code may beused for a transaction.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprisingtransmitting, by the processor, the second account code to an accountreader.
 3. The system of claim 1, further comprising rewriting at leasta portion of the first account code.
 4. The system of claim 1, whereinthe first account code is stored in a magnetic stripe on a transactiondevice.
 5. The system of claim 1, further comprising rewriting at leastfour predetermined digits of the first account code.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the first account code is compatible with Track 1/Track2 format.
 7. The system of claim 1, further comprising producing thesecond account code in response to a response signal being sent, and inresponse to a signal received by a transaction device from a reader. 8.The system of claim 1, further comprising a display configured todisplay the first account code, prior to production of the secondaccount code, and to display the second account code, in response to thesecond account code being produced.
 9. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising a display, wherein the display becomes active to display thesecond account code, in response to actuation of a switch.
 10. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising receiving an authentication signalfrom a reader.
 11. The system of claim 1, further comprising receivingan interrogation signal from a reader.
 12. The system of claim 1,further comprising rewriting at least a portion of the first accountcode stored in a magnetic stripe on a transaction device, wherein areader is operable to compare the first account code received via RFcommunication from the transaction device with the first account coderead from a magnetic stripe of the transaction device, and wherein thereader is constructed to compare the first account code received via RFcommunication from the transaction device with the first account coderead from the magnetic stripe of the transaction device in response tothe second account code being stored in the transaction device memoryand rewriting the at least a portion of the first account code stored inthe magnetic stripe, and wherein the reader uses the result of comparingto verify that the first account code received by RF communication andthe first account code read from the magnetic stripe are valid.
 13. Anarticle of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, inresponse to execution by a computer-based system for creating a secondaccount code, cause the computer-based system to perform operationscomprising: replacing, by the computer-based system, a first portion ofa first account code with data to create the second account code,wherein a second portion of the second account code is associated with asecond portion of the first account code; and wherein the second accountcode may be used for a transaction.
 14. A method comprising: replacing,by a computer-based system for creating a second account code, a firstportion of a first account code with data to create the second accountcode, wherein a second portion of the second account code is associatedwith a second portion of the first account code; and wherein the secondaccount code may be used for a transaction.
 15. The method of claim 14,further comprising transmitting, by the computer-based system, thesecond account code to an account reader.
 16. The method of claim 14,further comprising rewriting at least a portion of the first accountcode.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the first account code isstored in a magnetic stripe on a transaction device.
 18. The method ofclaim 14, further comprising producing the second account code inresponse to a response signal being sent, and in response to a signalreceived by a transaction device from a reader.
 19. The method of claim14, further comprising displaying the first account code, prior toproduction of the second account code, and displaying the second accountcode, in response to the second account code being produced.
 20. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising activating a display of thesecond account code, in response to actuation of a switch.